Currently, the transport of cargo via trucks or freight containers is fraught with safety risks for the operator and results in a high volume of damaged articles being delivered to the consignee. For example, carriers often use liftgate trucks to transport product overland. As will be appreciated, liftgate trucks are transport vehicles that have been fitted with hydraulic liftgates which can be used to raise cargo from the ground to the height of the carrying floor (or vice versa). Liftgate trucks are particularly useful where either the sending or receiving location does not have a loading dock or other means to allow the cargo to be easily lifted onto or off of the truck. However, the use of liftgates poses significant safety risks for workers, particularly where the cargo is large or top heavy, as the worker has little to no control over the cargo while operating the liftgate. More specifically, most switches to operate liftgates are placed near the base of the carrying floor and require the operator to maintain contact with the switch while it is in operation. Thus, when operating the liftgate, the worker may be reaching above their head (when raising the liftgate) or below knee level (when lowering the liftgate) making it difficult, if not impossible, for the worker to maintain a secure hold on the cargo and to ensure that the same does not fall over while the liftgate is moving. For very tall or top heavy objects in particular, the worker may have little to no control over them while operating the liftgate. Additionally, many liftgates do not operate smoothly and may rock or even tilt. This is particularly dangerous where the cargo is heavy but has a high center of gravity. As can be appreciated, when such cargo becomes off-centered, it topples easily. Without the means to secure such cargo, there is a substantial risk that the same will fall over while on a moving liftgate, resulting in serious injury to the worker and/or damage to the cargo.
The loading and unloading of freight from shipping containers is likewise perilous. Often, deck tables and deck bars are used inside shipping containers to allow for different sized cargo to be loaded at different levels within the container, increasing the amount of cargo which can be moved via a single container. For example, long, thin packing tubes are often used to ship longer, more delicate items such as screens, awnings, wood moulding and the like. Ideally such items are placed on top of two or more deck bars that have been secured perpendicularly to the container's walls towards the top of the container, leaving space below for transport of bulkier items. However, loading and unloading such tubes from deck bars is problematic and the deck bars effectively limit the height of cargo that can be loaded thereunder. More specifically, because such tubes are often longer then the width of the container, to transport them in the way described, the tubes must generally be raised towards the ceiling first, the deck bars installed, and then the tubes lowered to sit on the deck bars. To unload the tubes, the same must occur in reverse. Typically the lifting of the tubes is done using a forklift with a skid of multiple wood pallets or a pallet with other cargo thereon. If the worker is not careful, he or she may end up smashing the tube into the ceiling of the container. Moreover, while being lifted or lowered, the tube is not secured to the skid in any manner and may roll or fall, increasing the risk of injury to the worker and of damage to the product. Further, many workers stand on the forklift or another raised platform to gain enough height to even install or remove the deck bars, thus creating a further safety hazard.
Clearly, given the foregoing, there is a need for a means for securing cargo during transport which decreases the risk of injury to the worker and of damage to the cargo.